Essex Police has suspended its live facial recognition (LFR) deployment after a Cambridge University study found the system was statistically more likely to correctly identify Black individuals than other ethnic groups. The study used 188 volunteers in a controlled field experiment during a real police deployment and found that while incorrect identifications were rare, four of six false positives involved Black individuals despite them making up only 23.8% of the sample. A second independent study found no statistically relevant bias. Essex Police paused deployments to work with the algorithm provider on software updates and policy revisions, and says it is now ready to resume operations. This comes as the UK government plans to expand LFR use significantly, funding 40 more LFR-equipped vans and spending over £37 million on national facial recognition capabilities.
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